The present invention relates to an electronic music apparatus for automatically executing an accompaniment performance on the basis of automatic accompaniment style data. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for individually replacing any one or more of a plurality of drum tone colors, defined in a drum kit allocated to a drum part, with one or more other drum tone colors during an automatic accompaniment.
Heretofore, there have been known electronic music apparatus, such as electronic musical instruments, which are capable of, on the basis of automatic accompaniment style data (hereinafter referred to simply as “style data”) automatically reproducing an accompaniment performance with a performance pattern predetermined for each of a plurality of channels (corresponding to performance parts). For an automatic performance of a drum part (also called “rhythm part”) in such electronic music apparatus, any one of drum kits pre-defining combinations of drum tone colors is selectively allocated to the drum part (channel). In this manner, a plurality of drum tone colors can be collectively replaced with one or more other drum tone colors irrespective of whether or not an automatic accompaniment is currently being executed, i.e. irrespective of whether or not style data are currently being reproduced. One example of such electronic music apparatus is disclosed in “DIGITAL WORKSTATION Tyros3 Owner's Manual”, 2008, Yamaha Corporation, available from the Internet at http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/emi/english/port/tyros3en_om_c0.pdf.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-254439 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,025 and will be referred to as “Patent Literature 1”) discloses creating modifying data called “tweak style data” for modifying accompaniment style data to create modified or new accompaniment style data such that the new accompaniment style data, having been modified on the basis of the tweak style data, can be reproduced and stored as custom style data. The tweak style data includes a “drum replacing parameter” such that a desired drum tone color of a drum part in the accompaniment style data can be replaced with another drum tone color. However, the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 cannot edit a drum kit.
Further, the conventionally-known electronic music apparatus have a so-called drum kit editing function that allows any one or more of a plurality of drum tone colors, defined in a drum kit, to be individually replaced with one or more other drum tone colors.
With the aforementioned drum kit editing function, however, the drum kit editing, i.e. replacement of individual drum tone colors, can be performed only prior to the start of an automatic accompaniment, i.e. only during stoppage of reproduction of the style data. Thus, it has been conventional to create in advance, i.e. prior to the start of an automatic accompaniment, a drum kit having one or more desired drum tone colors replaced with other drum tone colors in accordance with the drum kit editing function and then select the created drum kit during the automatic accompaniment to thereby reflect the other drum tone colors in the automatic accompaniment.
However, the aforementioned is nothing but collective drum tone color replacement based on the drum kit created prior to the start of an automatic accompaniment in accordance with the drum kit editing function. Therefore, it is not possible to promptly check the automatic accompaniment having the other drum tone colors reflected therein, which would undesirably lead to poor usability of the apparatus. Therefore, there has been a demand for an apparatus which can individually replace any one or more of a plurality of drum tone colors, defined in a drum kit, with one or more other drum tone colors even during an automatic accompaniment and allows a user to promptly check the automatic accompaniment having the other drum tone colors reflected therein. But, no such apparatus has been proposed to date.